Friendships Lapsed and Loved Ones Lost
by Lucinda M. H. Cheshir
Summary: Law has let Cora-san drag him all around North Blue, and they're getting desperate. They've crossed into East Blue and started trying to find a doctor that will treat Law's Amber Lead sickness, with no luck. But on one island, there's a woman who Cora-san seems to know...
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer:_** _Do people do disclaimers anymore? this is a FANfiction site. I came here to write FAN fiction. And believe me, if I were Oda, the following situation would be canon. Also there would be way more fights handled by the ladies. And Sanji's backstory would be completely different. OKAY I DON'T OWN ONE PIECE LET'S MOVE ON._

 **East Blue**

It was the same in Cocoyashi as it had been all around North and East Blue. Law didn't know what Cora-san expected anymore. They weren't welcome in any big hospital, Law's steadily worsening condition saw to that, and what was more, no one knew the cure for Amber Lead Sickness. Why should some backwoods doctor in the heart of East Blue know when the best doctors the world had to offer had already turned Law away with cries of disgust and fear.

As Law sat on the edge of the stool, kicking his legs listlessly and waiting for the doctor to _finish up with stitching that girl's cut already really it shouldn't take this long_ , he readied himself for another screamed rejection, readied himself for Cora-san to get pissed and start shouting the usual

" _It's not contagious! What kind of a doctor are you?!"_ at this old man who was taking _forever_ to get the simplest doctoring task done.

Finally, _finally_ , the doctor snipped the thread and stood up smiling.

"There you are, little miss Nojiko." He smiled benignly, and patted the little girl's lavender hair. "Be more careful when you climb trees now, okay? And tell your mother I said hello."

"Thank you Dr. Nako!" Nojiko chirped, grinning, and she hopped off of the infirmary bed, moving much too incautiously for someone who'd just gotten stitches in her arm.

Dr. Nako turned to Law and Cora-san, _finally,_ and raised an eyebrow.

Law couldn't exactly blame him, considering Cora-san's chosen attire: in addition to the enormous black feathery coat, red hood, and weird makeup, Cora-san was wearing what Law considered to be one of the ugliest sweaters he'd ever laid eyes on. It was hideous: an orange, shapeless blob that disguised Cora-san's gangly, awkward upper half and was assaulting any innocent onlooker's eyes with a ghastly barrage of geometric patterns. Stitched dodecahedrons, to be precise. Law had had time enough to count the sides on every single dodecahedron on Cora-san's right sleeve while little Nojiko had been getting her stitches. There were eight of them.

Once Dr. Nako got over the orange monstrosity that was Cora-san's sweater, he looked to Law.

"Ah, this is my patient today, I take it?" His aged face wrinkled up in a well meaning smile as he examined Law. "Let's have a listen to your heart then, shall we young man?" Dr. Nako pulled out a stethoscope from the pocket of his white coat.

This doctor's visit was going remarkably well, Law thought mildly, but he knew that it was going to all fall apart soon, once the old man figured out that he had Amber Lead Sickness.

Law couldn't know for sure, since the man wore dark sunglasses, even inside at his practice (another amateurish decision, Law thought. Was this guy even a real doctor?), but Law could feel the doctor's eyes sweep critically over Law's white spots.

"I know what the trouble is." Dr. Nako announced, leaning back in his chair. "It's Amber Lead Sickness."

"We've known that for ages," Cora-san snapped. "Do you have a cure?"

"There is no cure. Now, leave the island immediately or I'll have to quarantine the boy."

Relatively speaking, this was one of the better reactions that Law and Cora-san had gotten. Even so, Law could still feel the hot, ugly tears well up in his eyes, saw Cora-san rise to his feet, towering a considerable distance over Dr. Nako (there was almost a four-foot difference between the two men,) and saw the pirate's expression darken.

" _What kind of a doctor-_ " Cora-san began, but Law didn't stick around to hear the rest of what he was inevitably going to say. He'd heard it all before, after all. Instead, pulling his spotted hat low over his eyes so that no one would see his tears, Law hopped off of the stool and ran out of the tiny hospital at all possible speed.

Unfortunately, pulling his hat down over his eyes also meant that he was unable to really watch where he was going, and consequently, it was only a few steps out of the infirmary when he crashed straight into an orange-haired little girl, sending the both of them painfully to the dusty street.

"Sorry," Law muttered under his breath, standing up and patting the dirt off of his shorts, preparing to run back to the boat.

The little redhead, however, had other plans: she opened her mouth and shrieked. "Bellemere-san! I'm hurt! It hurts! Bellemere-san! He pushed me!"

Law froze, so surprised that he almost stopped crying.

A shadow loomed over them.

"You pushing around my little girl, kid?" asked a menacing voice. Slowly, Law turned to see the scowling woman with a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth and sporting a very odd hairstyle. She could almost give the Donquixote Family a run for their money on crazy looks with that ponytail, Law thought. The woman also looked like she could give the Donquixote Family a run for their money when it came to fighting- she was probably the toughest-looking woman he'd ever seen.

The lavender-haired girl, Nojiko, was hovering at the woman's elbow and watching with a sort of gleeful curiosity.

"N-no, ma'am."

"He did, Bellemere-san, he did!" The little redheaded girl squawked.

Bellemere's expression darkened, but her face twisted into a grim grin as she squatted down to Law's level, all the better to look him in the eye, placing a clawlike hand on his hat to ensure that he didn't run away.

Law looked away instinctively. His face was still stained with tears, and he didn't need some busybody he'd never met to be asking him why it was so.

He could practically feel the change in her expression as Bellemere registered his tears, the white spots on his face, the snot running down his meniscus.

"What is it, kid?" She asked, her voice suddenly soft. "What's wrong? Where are your parents?"

"He was at Dr. Nako's with a big bird guy! He had funny clown makeup on, Bellemere-san!" Nojiko offered cheerfully. "And he ran into Nami on accident. I saw."

"Bleeh!" tiny Nami stuck her tongue out at Nojiko, who grinned and returned the gesture.

A loud crash came from the tiny hospital, and Bellemere immediately straightened. "Girls, stay here. You too, kid." She said, and sprinted through the doors.

"Come on, Nami, let's watch!" Nojiko pulled her little sister up off of the dirt road and they started hurrying towards the front window of the clinic. Nojiko paused after a step, turned back to Law, and offered him her hand. "You can come, too. I'm Nojiko, by the way, and this is my sister Nami. She's a really bad liar. I would have done much better. What's your name?"

Law wiped his face off and shook Nojiko's hand seriously. In a strange way, she reminded him of his little sister, Lamie. "Law." He said shortly. Nojiko grinned and pulled Law towards the open window.

The three children peered through the window, arranged in a bizarre staircase formation: Law, the tallest by about half a foot, on the left, Nojiko in the middle, and Nami on the right. Inside, Cora-san had made the usual mess, falling flat on his face in the middle of threatening the doctor, and causing a cart of scalpels, scissors, and other sharp doctor's instruments, to crash to the floor.

"Dr. Nako!" Bellemere said, apparently appalled by the state of the clinic, and of the doctor, who was cowering in a corner. "What the hell is going on?"

Dr. Nako pointed a quavering finger at Cora-san, a black feathery mess on the floor. "That man is threatening me!"

Cora-san shot up indignantly. "You won't cure Law! His condition isn't contagious at all, and you won't even try!"

Bellemere's eyebrows shot up with surprise. Then she squinted at Cora-san. "Rocinante? Is that really you? What the hell are you wearing?"

Cora-san froze, then turned slowly. He looked just as surprised as Bellemere. "Bellemere?"

"It is you! Ahahaha, you look like a big black chicken in that getup!"

Bellemere strode over to Cora-san's side, stood on tiptoes and reached up to grab the heart-shaped ends of his hood. She pulled his head down so that he was almost bent double. Locking him in a firm half-nelson, the tough woman put a fist to Cora-san's temple and started rubbing furiously. "What are you doing with a kid, huh? You been busy since I last saw you?"

"Ah, ow! Yeah, I guess you could say that." Cora-san grinned. "Can I introduce you two?"

"More than that, you can come over for dinner. But you'll have to lose the coat. And the hood. And the makeup."

 _Yes,_ thought Law, _finally he'll have to take off that awful sweater!_

Cora-san pouted. "Can I at least keep my sweater?"

Bellemere considered the bright orange monstrosity. "Yes." She decided.

 _Dammit._ Thought Law.


	2. Chapter 2

"I still don't see why I had to take a bath." Law muttered darkly as they waited on the step. Cora-san had picked several marigolds he'd found for Bellemere, but after several improbable accidents, Law had confiscated them.

"Because we were invited to dinner and we should look neat. Bellemere's an old friend of mine, and we have to do our best to respect her."

"Was she a pirate? She looks like one."

"I heard that!" Bellemere threw open the swinging saloon-style doors and stood in the doorway. She smiled at them. "Ah, there's the Roci I know! Come in, if you can fit through the door, that is. Giraffe."

Cora-san was virtually unrecognizable without his makeup, hood, and feathery coat. Law didn't think he'd ever seen the man without his pirate getup. It was weird, seeing the ungainly, ten-foot-tall blond man try to squeeze himself through the door while Law hung back. After tripping at least twice, Cora-san made it inside and beckoned Law to follow. Law did, noticing that Cora-san had to stoop in order to stand up in the little cottage.

"Well, now, introduce yourself, kid." Bellemere prompted, her hands on her hips, waiting for Law to tear his eyes away from scrutinizing every inch of his surroundings.

"Trafalgar Law." He said stiffly, offering the flowers. "Cora-san picked these for you." He explained, before anything could be misconstrued.

"Oh, did he now?" Bellemere smiled and took the bouquet, glancing slyly at Cora-san. "And just how long have you been traveling with Cora-san, Law?"

At the table, Nojiko and Nami giggled.

"Awhile." Law answered vaguely. He didn't really know, himself, to be honest. Everything had started to blur together. "He's been trying to cure me."

"Hm, well, I'll let you boys get right back to it, after you stay awhile. Roci, sit down, you look like an orange beanpole."

Nami tugged on Cora-san's sleeve after he sat. He looked down at her, eyebrows raised. "What is it?"

It was so different from the way he'd first interacted with Law that Law couldn't help but observe intently. Law had never seen Cora-san interact with children besides Baby 5 and Buffalo, and that was usually in attempts to drive them away from the Donquixote Family, probably attempts he made with their well-being in mind.

"You match my hair!" Nami lisped, smiling to reveal a gap-toothed grin, and pointing first at the hideous sweater Cora-san wore, and then at her vibrant orange locks.

Cora-san laughed. "Yes, I suppose I do. What's your name?"

"Nami. Bellemere-san named me that because I made her cry when she brought me back."

"What a nice name you have, Nami." Cora-san smiled, and patted her head. He turned to Bellemere. "Seems like you've been busy as well, Bellemere." He commented dryly.

She didn't turn away from the stove, but Law could hear the somewhat impudent smile tinging her voice as she spoke. "Yep. Got two daughters and a whole lotta tangerine trees. And now," She continued, carrying several plates of wonderfully citrusy-smelling food to the table, "I have two guests over for dinner. Everyone sit down. Nojiko, can you grab a vase real quick for those flowers? That's it. Put it in the middle of the table so we can all look at them while we eat."

"So Bellemere-" Cora-san began, but Bellemere cut him off.

"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah. We say grace in this house before we eat. Law, take your hat off, and everybody bow your heads."

Frankly too scared to do otherwise, Law tugged his spotty hat- his last link to his long-gone home in Flevance- off of his head, privately thinking that saying grace was just a bunch of hogwash anyway.

Bellemere cleared her throat. "Dear God, wherever you are, thank you for the gifts you've put on our table tonight, and thank you for the company you've given us, but thank you most of all that we are all here together, blood ties or no."

"Amen," Chorused Nojiko and Nami, and they were echoed by Cora-san. Law, however, said nothing.

After all, what kind of a God would let his entire country be wiped out in a single, merciless sweep? If there was a God, surely he'd have been cured by now.

"Let's eat!" Bellemere announced, and clapped her hands together, jolting Law out of his existential reverie.

Dinner was a loud affair, mostly because of Bellemere and Cora-san, who mercilessly teased each other. They seemed to be old friends, but Law was still baffled as to how the two could have met.

He felt painfully shy whenever Bellemere turned her attention to him: it had been so long, after all, since he'd sat down to eat dinner with a non-pirate family, after all, and he wasn't sure that the usual brawling fistfights were common order around here. Law answered every probing question that Bellemere asked him with quiet preciseness, using as few words as he possibly could.

"So Law, where are you from?"

"Flevance."

"Where's that?"

"North Blue."

"Do you have family there?"

"I did."

"What happened to them?"

"They're dead."

Bellemere fell silent at that, but Nojiko saw it as her opportunity to speak. "My family and Nami's family are all dead, too, Law. It's a good thing we have people like Bellemere-san and Roci-san to help us, right?"

"I... Guess..." Law said reluctantly, glancing over at Cora-san, who had the most ridiculous expression plastered across his face. Law glared at him, and Cora-san quickly looked away, picking up his teacup, which he hadn't touched until now.

"Ah, careful," tiny Nami warned as Cora-san took a sip. "It's hot."

Law ducked as Cora-san sprayed scalding tea across the table. It was second nature to him by now to pick Cora-san up after he fell, put out the fires that he accidentally started by being too clumsy with his cigarettes, and diving out of the way of any hot beverage Cora-san drank before it cooled down.

The girls both shrieked with laughter, and Nami clapped her tiny hands together.

"You're funny, Roci-san!" Nojiko said, gasping for breath between fits of giggles. Law didn't really see what was so funny about it. Cora-san had made a fool of himself again, and these two were laughing as hard as Baby 5 did.

Bellemere, who ought to have been the voice of reason, covered as she was with still steaming tea, cracked a grin. "You haven't changed a single bit, Roci."

"Of course not." Cora-san said, smiling back sheepishly, and pulling out a cigarette from his pocket, in an effort to regain his relatively cool demeanor (or as cool as it could be, considering that he was still wearing the bright orange sweater spangled with dodecahedrons.)

Bad move, Cora-san, Law thought grimly, and started looking around for a way to put fire out. There, a bucket by the sink. Perfect.

"It was always an act." Cora-san finished, lighting his cigarette.

His sleeve burst into flames.

Law bolted for the bucket. Bellemere, however, merely laughed again, and pulled out a fresh cigarette of her own.

"Can I get a light before Law puts you out, Roci?" She asked. Cora-san, still grinning sheepishly, nodded and held up his smoldering sleeve. "Nice," She said as her cigarette lit up. "Okay, Law, go ahead."

Law threw the water in the bucket over Cora-san's head, extinguishing both his sleeve, leaving nothing but charred tatters, and his cigarette. Well, at least Cora-san would have to get rid of the sweater now.

Bellemere looked up at the sound of rolling thunder above them. "A storm's coming into port." She observed. "You boys have a place to stay in town?"

Cora-san scratched his head. "Nope. We were just going to sleep out on the bluff-"

"Oh, nonsense. Stay here. We don't have the room, but at least you'll be warm and dry. You'll get soaked through if you spend the night outside."

Cora-san's eyebrows popped up with surprise. "Really? Th-thank you, Bellemere."

"Ah, it's nothing." Bellemere grinned and punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Besides, I could use the chance to catch up with my old boot camp buddy."

"I'll just get our stuff out of the boat, then. Law, you stay here." Cora-san rose once again and headed for the door. His feet immediately slipped out from underneath him, and he crashed to the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

"Tell us a story, Law!" Nami demanded, while Cora-san and Bellemere were out on the porch, talking in relative privacy.

"Yeah, you're from North Blue, you must know all sorts of cool stories!" Nojiko agreed enthusiastically, tugging on Law's sleeve.

 _Tell me a story, Law-oniichan!_

Law looked at the two girls, suddenly disturbed by the memory of Lamie. But these two were nothing like her. They were far too rambunctious to be compared to his well-mannered little sister.

But still...

"Fine." He caved, and sat on the floor. "But you're going to have to sit still and not squirm."

Nami and Nojiko sat side by side on the floor in front of him, waiting eagerly.

"In North Blue, there was this city-"

"No!" Nami interrupted almost immediately. "You have to start with 'Once upon a time!' It's not a story if you don't!"

Law glared at her, the same glare that usually sent Baby 5 crying to Buffalo, but the fierce little redhead met his gaze mercilessly.

" _Fine,_ " he said again, this time through gritted teeth. " _Once upon a time_ , there was this city in North Blue. It was all white and beautiful and everyone there was happy and rich. They were rich because of the white lead they sold to everyone through the world government. They made all sorts of beautiful things with the white lead, and sold them all around the world. But the World Government sentenced them all to death."

Nojiko and Nami hugged each other. "I don't think I like this story," Nojiko said, suddenly fearful. "The World Government is good, isn't it?"

Law didn't answer. It wasn't their fault they didn't know the truth, they were just kids. It was what the World Government wanted them to think anyway. Still, though, instead of adhering to Nojiko's clear wish that he either stop or tell a different, more cheerful story, Law went on.

"Everyone died in that city, the moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, all the adults, even the children. But you know what?"

"What?" Nami whispered, with horrified fascination.

" _Some of them might have lived if they hadn't been murdered by the neighbouring countries._ " Law said, with chilling elocution.

Nojiko shivered, but Nami scowled.

"Is that it?" she complained. "That's not a good story at all!"

Law looked at the little girl with shadowed eyes. "I'm not going to change it."

"You have to end it with 'they all lived happily ever after,' and you can't end like that if everyone dies in the beginning!"

Law scowled at her again, and again Nami ignored him.

"I'll tell you a real story," She boasted, and disentangled herself from Nojiko to begin. "And it's way better than your dumb story."

"Nami," Nojiko tried, perhaps realizing on some level that Law's story was not fiction, but Nami ignored her, too.

"Once upon a time," She started, in grand style, "There were two girls who lived on an island waaay far away. There was a war there that hurt a lot of people, but not them, they were rescued by a brave marine lady who became their mom and taught them how to beat up stupid boys when they talk trash about her tangerines."

 _Marine?_ Law wondered, and looked over to the swinging doors, outside of which Cora-san and Bellemere were talking and laughing together, as old friends do. _Does that mean...?_

"And when the girls grew up they became awesome powerful sea goddesses and never let anyone tell them what to do ever and they lived happily ever after punching stinky pirates in the face!" Nami finished happily, with an impish grin plastered across her face. Law couldn't help but snort.

Both Nami and Nojiko glared at him. "Are you making fun of my story?" Nami asked dangerously. "If you are, I'll tell Bellemere-san, and she'll beat you up."

"Yeah, it was a good story." Nojiko defended her sister. "Even though I could have done better."

"Hey!" Nami protested.

"Nojiko, be nice to your sister!" Bellemere called from the porch. Nami and Nojiko immediately quieted, but they stuck their tongues out at each other and grappled in silence for a few moments, effectively forgetting about Law in their squabbling.

Using this to his advantage, Law crept to the door, his mind still working at 50 knots. Bellemere? A marine? Then what was Cora-san? Had he been lying to Law this whole time?

"You sure do seem to have your hands full with those girls," Cora-san was saying, and Bellemere laughed.

"It's not so bad. I wouldn't trade it for anything. What about you, traveling around North Blue?"

"It's not like we're on a sightseeing trip, Belle." Cora-San sighed, and Law was surprised by the weariness in his voice. "We've been looking for a cure for four months now and nothing."

"Amber Lead Sickness, right? I thought I recognized the name Flevance, but..." Bellemere allowed her words to linger, unspoken in the air along with the smoke from her cigarette.

"It's not contagious." Cora-san assured her quietly. "We saw so many chicken-shit doctors who wouldn't even look at him because they were too caught up in the lies the government spread about Flevance to do their damn jobs."

"Do you think he's the only survivor? Maybe there are others who've found doctors by now-"

"You don't know how he escaped the city." Cora-san interrupted her. Images flashed before Law's eyes- piles of twisted white corpses, silently rotting, the stink filling up his nose, burning his eyes- "I don't think anyone else made it out alive."

Law wanted to vomit. He hadn't thought about his escape from Flevance since he'd joined the Donquixote family; he hadn't needed to and he hadn't wanted to. And the tour of doctors had just reminded him more and more of the inexpungible truth that he was going to die. And soon.

"There has to be a cure. Maybe on the Grand Line, but I'm sure you'll find it before it's too late." Bellemere said after several moments of silence from the porch. "Maybe even Vegapunk-"

"You know full well that the World Government wouldn't lift a finger to help the last survivor of Flevance. They were the ones who stood back and let it happen." Cora-san reminded Bellemere- and perhaps himself as well- bitterly.

"So what are you gonna do after you find a cure? What's Law going to do? Are you planning to slink back under whatever rock you've been hiding under all these years?"

"I may have to disappear again, but Law... he shouldn't go back. I have obligations to fulfill, and Law... He's just a child, Belle. He's seen enough horrors already."

"... You could bring him back here." Bellemere suggested, almost shyly, if such a woman could ever be shy. "Might give you an excuse to show up more often. We used to be best friends, Roci, and now I'm retired. I don't get to see people I used to know that often."

"I'll ask Law if that's what he wants to do, but he'll probably just berate me for daring to hope that we'll actually find a cure for him."

"Well, you gotta hope. Otherwise the despair will tear you up inside until there's nothing left." Bellemere observed, the tip of her cigarette glowing in the twilight.

Law wondered if he'd been torn up inside by despair as he turned away from the saloon doors and back into the one room cabin, where Nami and Nojiko were still good-naturedly brawling. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe he still had a little flicker of hope still alive somewhere, glowing quietly like the embers of a cigarette.


	4. Chapter 4

**The New World, En Route to Dressrosa**

Law swayed with the deck of the _Sunny_ as he silently wondered what he'd gotten himself into. These Straw Hat pirates were so... _noisy_. And even the quieter members of the crew were still willing enablers to their captain's insanity. But no matter: Law was so close to vengeance for Cora-san, and the Stawhats were simply a means to an end. He could put up with them long enough to see Doflamingo's bloody corpse.

But he couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity that seeing these tangerine trees on the deck of the _Sunny_ dredged up. It was a little memory, a quiet thing amidst the sound and the fury and the blood and the tears that had been his childhood, that had accompanied Cora-san's death, but it was there. A whisper. A whisper of what might have been, and a seed of doubt that had, lately, been sprouting.

Could Law have brought himself to live a normal life? With the Ope-ope no mi, he was sure that he would have been able to get to East Blue without much difficulty, even at thirteen. But without Cora-san, a return to that quiet island would have felt like disgrace and defeat. What point would his life have had, if he hadn't been dead set on revenge?

It was pointless to speculate. What was done was done, and there was nothing he could do now to change things.

"Hey, Trafalgar-san, do you mind helping me? I need to take care of my tangerine trees and it goes a lot faster if someone carries the bucket."

Law blinked and looked at Cat Burglar Nami, dressed in shorts and an old t-shirt and holding a gardening-gloved hand out to him- or, rather, she was holding a bucket full of half-decomposed organic slop leftover from Sanji's cooking. 'Ripe' was probably the kindest way to describe the bouquet of smells emanating from the pile.

Ignoring his initial instinct to tell her to find some other victim, Law shrugged. "Sure." He took the bucket without objection, as it was much less humiliating than having the tiny talking reindeer doctor tied to his hat.

Law found himself staring distantly at Nami's red hair as she worked, spreading the compost amidst the dirt at each tangerine tree's roots. It was absurd to think that she could be the same Nami as the little redheaded girl he'd met all those years ago. Besides which, Bellemere hadn't seemed like the kind of person to condone piracy. It was a vast world, and the chances of there being two redhead girls named Nami seemed more likely than running into the same girl by chance.

He'd convinced himself thoroughly that it was best not to make assumptions about the Strawhat navigator, when she surprised him by speaking in a soft voice.

"Hey, do you remember me? You've been acting like you don't."

Law focused again on her bright red hair, fiery in the evening light. "You're not... Nami from Cocoyashi, are you?" He asked, reluctantly. This felt wrong, somehow, like he was deliberately dredging up memories. Like he was meeting a childhood friend from Flevance, but they were all dead.

"Yeah. I knew I recognized that dumb hat." Nami turned and smiled tightly up at him, more a smirk than anything. A smirk of shared history. But their shared history was a mere blip in time. Inconsequential.

"I suppose it is something of a sentimental talisman," Law replied, unwilling to admit that the cautious familiarity Nami was showing him made him uncomfortable. Made his thoughts about the Strawhats as a means to an end... complicated. "How has your family been?"

Nami's smirk faded, and she raked fruit skins through the soil. "Nojiko's fine. You remember her, right? She's running the orchard now."

"What about your mother?" He wasn't interested. Law couldn't let himself be interested. Not when he was so close to revenge.

"Bellemere-san... is dead. She died not long after you and Roci-san left."

"Oh." Of course she'd died. Bellemere hadn't seemed the type to live to a ripe old age, anyway. "I'm sorry. Cor- Roci-san died, too."

"Well," Nami sniffed, rubbing her nose on the back of her wrist in a manner that telegraphed, exactly, that _I am not crying Mr Dubious Pirate Trafalgar Law, I merely have sinus issues it's surely the pollen from my lovely tangerine trees,_ "Maybe they're keeping each other company, wherever they are."

Law thought about the loudmouthed woman with the courageous hairstyle, and the 8-foot tall gawky blond extremely flammable mess of a man, sitting together on the stoop of Bellemere's tiny house, sharing a cigarette and stories. "Yeah," he agreed, "I think they'd like that."

xxx

 _fin_


End file.
